Diversity is overhyped Diversity is overhyped
By Roger Clegg
Today's editorial argues that diversity is good. I agree. But that's not the issue. The issue is whether diversity is so good that it justifies racial and ethnic discrimination in order to achieve it. As a legal matter, it is hard to see how the U.S. Supreme Court can find a ''diversity'' exception to the Constitution's guarantee of ''the equal protection of the laws,'' let alone to the 1964 Civil Rights Act's prohibition of ''discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color . . . or national origin'' in any federally funded program or activity.
If it does, it will be opening the door to more exceptions and more discrimination -- and who knows whom the new victims will be? As a policy matter, the editorial overstates the benefits of diversity, which after all boil down to an argument that a person's viewpoints and experiences can be deduced from his or her skin color -- what used to be called stereotyping. And it assumes that diversity and those benefits can be achieved only through discrimination. In any event, the benefits of diversity must be weighed against the costs of using racial and ethnic preferences.
Here are the costs: * It is personally unfair, passes over better-qualified students and sets a disturbing legal, political and moral precedent in allowing racial discrimination. It creates resentment. It stigmatizes the so-called beneficiaries in the eyes of their classmates, teachers and themselves, as well as future employers, clients and patients. * It fosters a victim mind-set, removes the incentive for academic excellence and encourages separatism. It compromises the academic mission of the university and lowers the overall academic quality of the student body.
It creates pressure to discriminate in grading and graduation. It breeds hypocrisy within the school. * It encourages a scofflaw attitude among college officials. It mismatches students and institutions, guaranteeing failure for many of the former. It papers over the real social problem of why so many African-Americans and Hispanics are academically uncompetitive. It gets states and schools involved in unsavory activities, such as deciding which racial and ethnic minorities will be favored and which will not, and how much blood is needed to establish group membership.
Finally, would you choose as your surgeon someone other than the most qualified?
Roger Clegg is general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity in Sterling, Va. 'Benefits' are outweighed by negative effects on society.
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